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Jack Draper was unable to find his US Open form as Britain crashed to defeat against Argentina in the Davis Cup.
A week after losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals in New York, Draper led his country for the first time but was beaten 7-6 (4), 7-5 by Francisco Cerundolo in Manchester.
Coupled with Dan Evans’s 6-2, 7-5 loss to Tomas Martin Etcheverry, it meant Argentina wrapped up victory ahead of the doubles rubber and dealt a huge blow to Britain’s chances of reaching the “Final Eight” event in Malaga in November.
Leon Smith’s squad, who beat Finland on Wednesday, would have progressed with two wins from their opening two ties. Instead, they are likely to need to beat Canada on Sunday in what could be a nerve-shredding Group D contest.
Draper arrived in Manchester on Tuesday and was rested for the victory over Finland the following day, with Evans and debutant Billy Harris claiming singles wins.
This tie was a step up in class, though, and Draper, who understandably looked a little jaded, could not manage to outmuscle the impressive Cerundolo, ranked 11 places below the British No 1 at world No 31.
There was no sign of the strapping on his right thigh that Draper had worn since the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows but a break for Cerundolo in the third game put him on the back foot.
Draper broke back to make it 5-5, to the delight of the majority of the 9,000-strong crowd, which included Liverpool’s Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister.
But Cerundolo led throughout the tie-break and Draper just could not find a meaningful advantage in the second set, first being pegged back straight away after an early break and then missing three break points at 4-4.
Cerundolo did not make the same mistake when he brought up three match points at 6-5, converting the first and then falling to the court in delight.
Earlier, Evans, who was given the nod over Harris as No 2, was also unable to take his chances against the consistent Etcheverry.
It has been a difficult year for Evans, whose ranking has slipped to 178, and he could only boast one win in 2024 over a player ranked higher than world No 34 Etcheverry.
Had Evans managed to convert any of four break points in a long fourth game, things might have played out differently.
But his opponent, nine years younger and eight inches taller, surged ahead with five games in a row and the crucial break of a tight second set came at 5-5.
Evans had three more opportunities to break in a rollercoaster final game that also saw him save five match points but the cruellest of net cords created a sixth – this time, Etcheverry made it across the line.
Evans was left disappointed, saying: “I didn’t play my best. A really long game at 2-1 in the first set probably changed the momentum of the match quite a bit.
“And then at the end, I felt the momentum was turning but I just wasn’t as good as I expect [to be]. It was a difficult match. I wasn’t feeling great how I was striking the ball.”
